Council, developers compromise on Midtown condo building plans

Stephanie Murphy

Tuesday

Apr 10, 2018 at 12:01 AMApr 10, 2018 at 4:45 PM

The Town Council agreed Tuesday to allow developer Ed Cury to replace a boxy, 13-unit apartment building with a three-story condominium building designed to look like a classic-Mediterranean home. Even the dissenters on the 3-2 vote, Allen Wyett and Jack McDonald, told architect Rafael Portuondo that they like his design for 470 S. Ocean Blvd., just south of the parking lot next to Charley's Crab. Since August, when the council debated the proposal and voted it down, Cury has compromised on the building footprint, and the council has compromised on its objections. The result is that Cury can complete the work all at once instead of in stages. He is reducing the density from 13 units to two and will be required to change the three-story building's address to Gulfstream Road. In addition to downsizing and eliminating parking spaces, the proposal calls for two luxury units with garages, cabanas and swimming pools. The developer reduced the size of the building by about 1,200 square feet. The application involved a total of 17 variances, including building height, lot area and width and various setbacks. The building will face Gulfstream, with landscaped arches over the driveway. The swimming pools will be on the east end, concealed from South Ocean. The first floor of the building will be taken up with garages and the two cabanas. There are two residential units; one will have about 4,700 square feet and the other will have 5,600 square feet. To carry off a Venetian aesthetic between "the bookends of commercial and residential," Portuondo said the project needed a pitched roof instead of a flat roof, colonnades and loggias, and porches accentuating ocean views. "It's definitely an appealing design, but it grossly violates the comprehensive plan. I do like the pitched roof, but I'd like a smaller building," Wyett said. Robert Wood, a neighbor to the west, urged the council's approval. He said it will benefit everyone in the vicinity who is downwind of the site for all the work to be done at once, to minimize dust and noise. "It's the least attractive building on that stretch. By converting the structure, it will make the neighborhood more cohesive," Wood said. More importantly, the project will get rid of parking spaces close to the intersection that create a traffic hazard when someone is turning off South Ocean, he said. Cury paid $3.1 million for the building in April and estimates the new project will cost about $7 million. In other business Tuesday, the council unanimously approved: - An extension on the building permits for the landmarked house at 455 N. County Road. Attorney Frank Lynch represented 123 LLC, the new owner of Casa Amado, which was designed by Addison Mizner in 1919 and changed hands in the midst of an extensive renovation project. The council approved an 18-month reprieve starting Tuesday, and added a stipulation by Bob Moore, director of Planning, Building and Zoning, that requires the contractor to supply quarterly progress reports on construction. - A request by Peter James O'Donnell to allow renovations to an attached guest house at 235 Seaspray Ave. - Construction of a two-story house at 1620 S. Ocean Blvd., granting a point of measurement of 21.5 feet instead of 16.6 feet. The application had been deferred at the August meeting. - Construction of a loggia on the west side of 215 Via del Mar, increasing the lot coverage to 30.6 percent instead of 29.4 percent approved previously. The owners, Nancy and Walter Raquet, had been asked last month to reduce the size of the loggia. The vote included a deed restriction against enclosing it. - Construction of a boat lift at an existing dock at 335 El Vedado Road. - Two sets of mooring piles for an existing dock at 1440 N. Lake Way. The piles will be 158 feet from the bulkhead instead of 150 feet allowed by code, because of shallow water. - A point of measurement of 23.6 feet at 102 Clarendon Ave. instead of the 19.04 feet allowed, to enable construction of a single-family home and cabana for Michael McInerny. - A request by the Beach Club, 755 N. County Road, to modify its special exception use to have an accessory awning on the tennis court area on the west side of the road. - A request by Maryanne Barry to put two sets of driveway gates at 160 Woodbridge Road. Norman Goldblum was out of the room during the 4-0 vote.